Dining
The 7 Best BBQ and Smokehouses in London
London's brisket, ribs and pulled pork specialists run from a Shoreditch pit room to a Marylebone pub with its own smoker out the back.
In short: our top picks are Smokestak, Bodean's Camden and Red Dog Saloon. 7 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
American barbecue in London means low and slow, hours in a smoker rather than a quick blast on a grill. It took a while to catch on properly. Brisket needs a pit and a pitmaster who understands bark and smoke ring, not just a marinade and a hot flame. The restaurants below all commit to that slower process rather than faking it with a barbecue sauce glaze. Styles differ street to street. Texas style brisket dominates near London Bridge, Kansas City sauces and St Louis ribs turn up in a Marylebone pub, and a Covent Garden crab shack leans into Louisiana flavours alongside the pulled pork. None of it is cheap once sides and drinks are added, but a decent plate of brisket here holds up against most of what is on offer outside the United States.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Smokestak | Shoreditch | £££ |
| Bodean's Camden | Camden | ££ |
| Red Dog Saloon | Hoxton | £££ |
| Big Easy Covent Garden | Covent Garden | £££ |
| Lord Wargrave | Marylebone | ££ |
| Smokey Tails | Bethnal Green | ££ |
| Texas Joe's | London Bridge | ££ |
-
Editor’s choice
Smokestak
Why we pick itSmokestak's Shoreditch dining room runs off a wood fired pit, and the ox cheek doughnut has become one of the dishes people specifically travel for. Brisket here gets a proper bark and a smoke ring you can see before you even taste it.
Worth knowingLong smokes mean limited output, so popular cuts sell out on busy nights, and the room runs loud enough to suit sharing over a quiet dinner for two.
Wood fired barbecue and smoked meats
-
Bodean's Camden
Why we pick itBodean's has been serving Kansas City and Memphis style barbecue on Chalk Farm Road since well before the current wave of London smokehouses. Ribs, pulled pork and burnt ends all come off the smoker daily, and the portions are generous rather than precious.
Kansas City and Memphis style smokehouse
-
Red Dog Saloon
Why we pick itRed Dog Saloon's Hoxton Square site smokes everything over hickory and pairs it with a solid cocktail list, useful if barbecue is only half the plan for the evening. The pulled pork and burger combos are the better order over the fussier plates.
Worth knowingDownstairs turns into a bar with a DJ as the evening goes on, so ask for an upstairs table or book early if you want to hear your own table.
Hickory smoked barbecue and cocktail bar
-
Big Easy Covent Garden
Why we pick itBig Easy's Covent Garden branch pairs Southern barbecue, ribs, brisket and pulled pork, with a proper lobster and crab shack menu, so a table split between meat eaters and seafood fans still works. It is louder and more of an occasion than most smokehouses on this list.
Southern barbecue and seafood crab shack
-
Lord Wargrave
Why we pick itThe Lord Wargrave looks like an ordinary Marylebone pub from the street, but the kitchen smokes its own St Louis ribs and runs a whisky list long enough to spend an entire evening working through. It is a good option when you want barbecue without a barbecue restaurant's usual queue.
Pub smokehouse with a deep whisky list
-
Smokey Tails
Why we pick itSmokey Tails settled into its Bethnal Green Road site after a run of pop ups and residencies, and it still has that scrappy, does one thing well feel. The smoked wings and brisket rolls are built for a bar crawl rather than a formal sit down dinner.
Bar and grill smokehouse
-
Texas Joe's
Why we pick itTexas Joe's sits just behind London Bridge station and smokes its meat low and slow in the Texas style, brisket first, everything else second. There are no reservations for small tables, so early doors on a weekday is the reliable way in.
Texas style slow smoked barbecue
Before you book
Budget from around 20 pounds for a main plate of ribs or brisket up to 35 or 40 pounds once sides, a starter and a drink are added. Smokestak and Texas Joe’s do not take bookings for smaller groups at peak times, so turn up early on a Friday or Saturday, or go on a weeknight instead. Big Easy and Bodean’s suit groups who want to book ahead, given their larger dining rooms.
Common questions
What are the top picks in this guide?
Smokestak is our editor's choice: Smokestak's Shoreditch dining room runs off a wood fired pit, and the ox cheek doughnut has become one of the dishes people specifically travel for. Brisket here gets a proper bark and a smoke ring you can see before you even taste it. Smokestak, Bodean's Camden and Red Dog Saloon lead the guide, with 7 places in total, all chosen on merit.
How does Lamplit London choose its recommendations?
Every place is chosen on merit, after first-hand visits where possible, with no pay-for-placement. Read our full method at https://www.lamplitlondon.com/how-we-choose/.
Related guides
Dining The Best Steak Restaurants in London
Dry-aged, charcoal-grilled and properly rested: the London steakhouses worth the spend.
4 places Read guide →
Dining korean bbq london
London's tabletop Korean BBQ scene now runs from Fitzrovia grill houses to hotel dining rooms in Kensington and a Korean expat strip in New Malden.
7 places Read guide →
Experiences Things to Do in London
Our considered guide to doing London well: the experiences, views and evenings worth your time.
5 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Restaurants in Whitechapel
The best restaurants in Whitechapel: where to eat well, chosen on merit.
5 places Read guide →
Dining best dessert restaurants london
Pudding deserves a destination of its own. Six London places where dessert is the point, from a two Michelin star tasting menu to a Soho patisserie that has been baking since 1871.
6 places Read guide →From the Journal
Dinner as the Main Event: The Case for the Tasting Menu
Most great dinners in London are a means to an end. You eat, you talk, you move on to the bar, the show, the rest of the night. The tasting menu refuses to be that. It is not the warm-up. It is the whole event, the curtain up and the curtain down, three hours that […]
13 Jun 2026Read →
The Enduring Ritual of London Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea is not a tourist trap. It is one of the last unhurried things London does on purpose. Lunch is rushed and dinner is a production, but the hours between belong to nobody, and that is precisely the point. You sit. You stay. You let an afternoon become long. In a city that measures […]
2 Jun 2026Read →
London’s Quiet Obsession with Japanese Food
London does not fall for things loudly. It just keeps showing up. And over the last decade or so, the city has shown up for Japanese food again and again, until it stopped feeling like a special occasion and started feeling like a default. You see it everywhere now. The counter where one chef feeds […]
28 Apr 2026Read →Readers also viewed
Dining The Best Pies in London
From a Bermondsey marble counter pouring parsley liquor to a Mayfair pie room with nine in-house varieties, here are six London places that still treat the pie as a serious thing.
6 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Birthday Restaurants in London
Six London restaurants built for a birthday that people actually remember: pink rooms, jungle grills, Greco-Roman drama and two Big Mamma blockbusters, across budgets.
6 places Read guide →
Dining Romantic Restaurants in London
The rooms we send people to when the night matters, from a quiet first date to an anniversary you cannot get wrong.
6 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Pizza in London
Blistered Neapolitan, Roman al taglio and proper New York slices: where to eat the best pizza in London.
5 places Read guide →